The cross-industry mentoring scheme launched in June by the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI), the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA) and the Diversity and Inclusion Finance Forum (DIFF), which operates on the workinginmortgages.org.uk website, has so far signed up 133 mentors and 48 mentees.
More mentees are being encouraged to sign up and take advantage of the mentor experience available.
The scheme, which is free and open to all lenders, insurers and intermediaries, aims to support people across the mortgage industry, to enhance their skills and their career potential, widen opportunities and build confidence in the sector.
Nicola Goldie, head of strategic partnerships & growth at Aldermore and a member of IMLA’s management committee, said: “We’re delighted that so many people have signed up to become mentors through the scheme, demonstrating their willingness to devote time and energy to sharing their knowledge and expertise and helping to progress others on their career paths. We strongly urge anyone who thinks they could benefit from a mentoring relationship to visit the site and consider joining the scheme – particularly mentees, given the untapped resource currently available on the mentor side.”
Robert Sinclair, managing director of AMI, said: “Mentoring offers a raft of advantages to mentees, from knowledge transfer and skills development to enhanced networking opportunities, confidence building, personal growth, industry insight…the list goes on. This scheme provides a free and easily accessible framework for setting up the mentor/mentee relationship and we would love to see more people benefit from what it has to offer.”
The section of the workinginmortgages.org.uk website dedicated to the scheme hosts a series of short introductory videos. These include topics such as Are you ready to benefit from having a mentor/Are you ready to be a mentor? Key skills of a mentee/mentor and what a mentee/mentor can expect and How does the mentoring process work?
The site also provides an explanation of the mentoring journey, from registration to finding a mentor/accepting a mentee’s request, to arranging the first conversation, defining the mentoring goals and setting up regular progression meetings.
Users are given access to a series of targeted guides to help them through each stage of the mentoring journey and ensure that they get the most out of their mentoring relationship.